CfP for Issue 4!
Theme: Re- (reboot, refresh, rehash, redo, resurrect, remorse, regret, resist)
Regarding “re”. What does it mean to Re-…boot? Reformat? Rehash? Redo? Rethink? Reconsider? Regret? Regurgitate? Resist? Reply, remark, or remake?
Reconsider Esoteric Gaming! It’s back! The almost-a-journal you didn’t know you needed! Last seen in 2018, and then, like too much of life, sidelined by the pandemic, but, finally, returning.
We live in uncertain, tumultuous times, and it is during these moments when history is being written that the vintage turn, the retro turn, and the historical turn rear their heads. We reconsider the past, when things were “better,” from an uncertain present with an unstable future. What better way to re-consider, re-hash, or re-boot than through esoteric topics using an esoteric form of internet-based communication that is itself seeing a resurgence?
Gaming is diverse. Gaming is the future. Gaming is speculative fiction. Gaming is imagination and re-imagination. Gaming is resistance, subversion, and persistence. Gaming makes us think about our human condition and our responsibilities and relationships to each other.
This, finally, is your official CFP for the fourth issue of Esoteric Gaming, the online journal about gaming practice and what makes gaming great. A word of caution, though. This is not your typical academic journal. Esoteric Gaming is scrappier, less formal, and more focused on nuanced gameplay. Also, NOTHING about Esoteric Gaming is meant to mean anything for your careers. There’s no line for your CV. There’s no respect from your tenure review committee. There’s no ranking system and no journal impact.
We’re looking for short, informal pieces that are heavy on detailed description. We don’t need a ton of analysis, no methods sections, no lit reviews (but we love to include a good cite to those who deserve it, pieces you should read, readings that make us want to be better scholars). Just good writing about intricate, nuanced play and how it collectively tells a story about diversity and inclusion. This is your chance to escape the normal crap you have to deal with in traditional academic publishing. This is for grad students wanting to just talk about games and gaming away from the fixed journal format (which they should come to love eventually in terms of providing structure). This is for tenured professors who want to just talk about games and gaming away from all that, too. This is also for people who aren’t academics and just want to engage in thoughtful writing!
That said, we’re basically open to anything related to gaming practice. If you do have a longer article that you want to get published or if you have a thought piece that you want to air out, well, why not?
Your article will be judged harshly by our panel of over-confident experts, edited lightly (perhaps), given massive suggestions to find images, videos, or other media to include, as well as a healthy look at how we could take advantage of the POWER OF WEB 3.0 / AI™ to make it an ergodic article throughout time and space.
Deadlines are loose. We’ll be contacting those who originally submitted potential articles to the Third Issue before this all went by itself into the woods only to return 7 years later. Shoot for beginning of Summer 2026, to be published end of Summer 2026!
And in case it’s useful, here’s the about page for Esoteric Gaming and the intro to the weird Third Issue.
¡Viva la revolución!
Mark Chen along with Kristin Bezio, Nick Lalone, and Nathaniel Poor.